Like Sand In An Hourglass
by WarriorOfTheLight
Summary: Hiccup is sick. And he can't risk letting anyone know. But time isn't exactly on his side. Set post-HTTYD2
1. Fate Rears Its Ugly Head

Hiccup groaned and rubbed a hand over his face to clear away his tiredness. The past five years had been no different as the excitable Night Fury nudged his head against his rider again. Toothless still enjoyed a break of dawn ride, and, what with Hiccup's new role as Chief, it was a good way for him to wake up and start the day.

The Night Fury cooed and dropped his head upon the brunette's body, causing him to laugh quietly. He didn't want to wake his mother up at this time. She could sleep now as they had planned to go for a ride together later so that Hiccup could show her where he had discovered. He was so glad to have a mother back in his life, but never, not even in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine that she would be anything like he was.

Hiccup sat up, good naturedly pushing his dragon's head from his chest. He adjusted his leg in place, sleeping with it on resulted in cramps and unnecessary pain, and stood. What he hadn't expected was for the room to spin dangerously, causing him to stumble and fall back onto his bed. Toothless cocked his head and cooed in confusion.

"I'm alright bud, just stood up too quickly." He assured his dragon. He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to steady his heartbeat. _That's weird_, he thought, _all I did was stand up_. He shrugged and reached over to grab his top.

As he stood up again, Hiccup felt the same dizziness wash over him. However, he was prepared this time and stayed still, allowing for it to pass. When it did, what felt like an age later, he moved over to his riding gear and slowly put his leather under-gear on before strapping his body armour over it.

Finally he was ready to go. Toothless, who had been unable to sit still since his rider had risen, leapt over and started pushing Hiccup towards the large opening in the roof. He mounted Toothless effortlessly and the Night Fury sprang out, unfurling his wings and gliding over Berk.

This was routine. It gave Hiccup a chance to see that everything in the village was in order. And today seemed no different. The couple of people already up waved at Hiccup as he flew over. The people of Berk were aware of Hiccup's morning routine.

Satisfied that everything was alright, with a slight twitch of his leg, Dragon and Rider sped away. Instantly Toothless began to ascend, quicker and quicker, higher and higher, until the clouds surrounded them. The thin air caused Hiccup's breathing to quicken, something that wasn't entirely unusual.

Through breaks in the clouds, Hiccup could see that they had long left Berk behind. With a quick glance to his wrist where his compass was, the brunette could tell that they were heading North. It wasn't a path that they usually took as it led towards Outcast Island, a place where they tended to avoid. But it was also a great place to practice manoeuvrable flying.

Toothless began to climb even higher, the air thinning dangerously. Hiccup's breathing was increasingly laboured. Spots began to dance in his eyes and his ears were ringing. He blinked furiously, trying to clear them and he adjusted his foot, alerting Toothless to the fact that he wanted to descend. The Night Fury obliged and twisted his body around, plummeting into a sharp dive, his wings closing around his body.

Toothless was unaware of his rider's distress. Hiccup's head was pounding and his ears were ringing painfully. His vision kept fading and clearing and he saw the water was fast approaching. He could feel the muscles moving under the dragon's scaled skin, allowing Hiccup to know exactly when Toothless was going to pull out of this dive. A twitch in Toothless' shoulder blades alerted Hiccup and he cocked his foot, spreading the tail flat whilst the great beast's wings flew open, straining at the sudden change of motion.

A pain unlike anything Hiccup had ever felt before erupted through his ribcage, causing him to double over in the saddle, the motion affecting his prosthetic leg's hold on Toothless' saddle. The moment the foot came out of its locking, Hiccup slid from the saddle and straight towards the foaming Northern Sea below.

Toothless felt the weight leave him instantly and, for a second, believed that his rider was gliding alongside him somewhere. It was only when he looked down and saw Hiccup's limp body falling straight down did some form of understanding blaze through the dragon. Hiccup had been acting strange this morning.

The Night Fury dove straight down, hoping that, although his tail was on another setting, that he would reach Hiccup in time. Just as Toothless managed to wrap his arms around the boy, the both of them smashed into the angry, frothing waters of the Northern Sea.

…

It was the pain reverberating through his skull that brought Hiccup back to consciousness. His eyes felt heavy and almost glued together. After having finally pried them open, he shut them immediately, cringing at the light. He groaned and attempted to roll over, only to have the ground give way beneath him. He looked down and saw he was lying on sand. Black sand. A sand that he knew was only local to Outcast Island. He tried to remember what had happened but couldn't recall much. He had been diving, and fast. No, not just him.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried, suddenly aware that his friend was no longer near him. Hiccup tried to stand but the increasingly familiar excruciating pain tore through his side. It felt like he was being burnt with a white hot poker and the pain caused his eyes to flutter and cloud over.

As quickly as he could, he ripped off his body armour and leather under-gear. He lifted his top to see a cut that he wasn't unfamiliar with. When Drago had ordered his alpha to kill him with an ice blast, Toothless had blocked the attack in the main. However, one spike of ice had evaded his dragon's protection and had pierced his side. At the time he had barely even noticed, the chill of the ice stopping the wound from bleeding and almost sealing it.

Now he thought back to it, the last few weeks in particular had been a strain on him. He remembered thinking that maybe he had strained his chest muscles, but now, looking down at the blackness spreading from the wound, Hiccup could see that the ice was having a seriously bad effect on his body. How had he not noticed this before?

_Could it have poisoned me?_ He wondered. Surely the alpha couldn't have the power of poison too? That didn't seem right. But maybe it was the dragon that Drago used. It had seemed like the complete opposite of the alpha that his mother had shown him. That alpha had been about life and preserving all things living. If Hiccup's theory was correct, then Drago's alpha was a bringer of death, a thought that sent foreboding shivers down Hiccup's spine.

He decided then and there to keep this to himself until he knew more. After everything that had happened in recent months, it was best to not worry anyone. Hiccup was sure that he would be alright. Wasn't he?

A familiar roar greeted Hiccup's ears and a large black reptilian head burst into his eyesight. Toothless' pupils dilated at the sight of his rider conscious and sitting up. The great black dragon bounded over to where Hiccup still sat in the sand and halted right before barrelling into him. Toothless cooed softly, his eyes seeking out any injury on his rider.

"I'm alright bud. I don't know what happened. I-I think I'm sick." Hiccup wasn't entirely sure why he didn't tell Toothless everything. Maybe it was because the dragon felt so bad as it was about _that_ day with what happened to Stoick. If he found out that he failed to protect the one who meant the world to him, his other half, then he would never forgive himself.

Toothless blinked and sniffed his rider, recoiling at the foul scent that came from his chest. It was a smell that humans were unable to smell, but dragons could recognise particular poisons from a mile away. Instantly Toothless released his teeth and growled at Hiccup, urging him to not lie.

Rider had known Dragon long enough to understand this. Through his eyes, he pleaded with Toothless to drop it, but the dragon's protectiveness had taken hold. If his rider was poisoned, he _had_ to know. He _had_ to help.

Hiccup sighed and broke eye contact, conceding defeat. He pulled the edge of his top up, revealing the unusual wound. Toothless bent closer and his tongue flickered out, tasting the air around the wound. He knew that scent. It was a scent that he had overpowered through will and love. It was a scent of _death_.

"Toothless, we can't tell anyone about this." The dragon looked at him, confused. "Berk has already lost a chief, they don't need to worry about losing another one. Together, we'll find a cure." Toothless looked doubtful, but he recognised that gleam in his rider's eyes. It was a stubborn determination that meant that he wasn't going to change his mind about this. Toothless cooed and licked Hiccup's cheek lightly, letting him know that he would be there for him.

Hiccup chuckled and looked up. Judging by the positioning of the sun, it had only been an hour since he had left Berk. That left him enough time to head back before anyone noticed anything was amiss. Hiccup, with much aid from Toothless, managed to stand, feeling the vertigo slam into his head again. Had he not been holding onto Toothless, he was sure that he would have fallen straight back down again.

Slowly, he reached down and grabbed his armour and leather-wear. He couldn't bring himself to put it on so he strapped it to the back of Toothless' saddle. It was probably best that he didn't wear it as his clothes were damp from what he assumed was from when he fell into the sea. After what seemed like forever, he climbed onto the saddle and securely strapped himself in before patting Toothless' neck.

"Come on, bud. Let's go home."

…

Astrid and Valka were walking through Berk towards the cliff-face where their dragons waited. Both women's worry was evident on their faces and as they approached the waiting dragons, Snotlout came forward.

"So where are we looking today? We looked everywhere yesterday."

Valka sighed. When Hiccup didn't get back from his ride at his usual time, she was curious if he had gone a little further than usual. But then time began to wear on and no one in the village had seen him. Her worry had only increased tenfold when Astrid had come to the house, claiming that Hiccup was going to train some of the younger dragons. Upon the realisation that Hiccup had never returned from his flight, Astrid was quick to round up the riders and send them to different locations; Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut in one direct and Valka and herself in another. They hadn't found any signs of him when they were searching and had hoped that the others were more successful. Their hope was crushed when they returned.

Honestly, Astrid had no idea where to look next. Hiccup had particular places that he liked to fly to and to escape to and he had been at none of those. And she knew all of them.

"I don't know. If we just keep flying then we may come across him." She wasn't sure who she was trying to convince more, them or herself. Ever since finding Hiccup was gone, she had a bad feeling. He never just disappeared like this.

It was then that Gobber looked to the sky and saw a black shape in the distance. It was fast approaching and the blacksmith recognised it.

"Hiccup! Well, Toothless anyway."

Everyone spun to see the familiar Night Fury fly over their heads and turn to land behind them, flapping his long wings to reduced speed.

Instantly Astrid and Valka were hurrying towards Hiccup as he dismounted. As his feet hit the ground, his knees buckled but Toothless caught him. That didn't help anyone's worry. As they looked at him, they saw dark circles beneath bright, fevered eyes, rimmed with red. His skin, too, seemed almost too pale.

"Hiccup." Valka cried when she was close enough and wrapped her arms around him.

As she pulled back, Hiccup was left with a thoroughly bewildered expression on his face. It was only then did Astrid notice his clothes. Instead of his usual riding gear, which she could see was attached to his saddle, Hiccup wore only a grey-green tunic. In fact, Hiccup was rarely seen without his riding gear on. She stepped forward, embracing him and drawing him near, revelling in the feeling of him in her arms again. He smelt odd though. Amongst his usual musk of leather and pine, there was a particular saltiness, almost as if he had been in the sea. She pulled away, questions swimming in her eyes.

"Hey mom, guys. What's wrong? Has something happened?"

"Heh, yeah try you going missing for something happening." Ruffnut said, as if she was stating the obvious.

Hiccup's face didn't change a bit, his shock only flashing through his eyes. "Missing? I only went for my morning ride…"

Astrid took a step forward, concern written all over her face. "Hiccup, you left for your morning ride _yesterday_."

Had Toothless not been behind him then he would have staggered back. The world seemed to be spinning again. "Yesterday? But- What?" he looked at Toothless and there was some form of silent communication between them. Finally he sighed and looked back to the others. "I'm sorry, I, uh…"

"Hiccup?" Valka's voice was comforting but there was a definite hint of worry laced within it. "What happened?"

Hiccup sighed, something that causing him to wince this time as pain flared through his side again. Toothless, who had noticed this, cooed and gently nudged Hiccup's leg. "I, uh, we crashed. I didn't realise that a whole day had passed."

Everyone stared in shock. Hiccup, _the Hiccup_, had crashed? That didn't seem right. He was such a talented flyer that he could fly perfectly in his sleep. And he had seemed hurt, Astrid had noticed him wince as he had sighed.

"You? Crashed? What in Thor's name were you doing?" Tuffnut snorted. Astrid frowned. Some people were better at hiding their shock than others. Apparently Ruffnut thought the same of her twin as she brought her elbow up sharply, catching Tuffnut in the face and sending him sprawling to the ground, something that made her snicker.

"We were just flying. I must have miscalculated something. We fell." Seeing the horror on his mother's and Astrid's faces he added. "I'm fine though." A thought hit him. "A day? _A whole day_? Gods help me I've got so much to do." He hopped back on Toothless, again the effort causing him to grimace. He really had to get his facial expressions in check.

Before he and Toothless could set off though, Cloudjumper leant down and sniffed Hiccup, recoiling much like Toothless had. Instantly, lips were pulled back revealing gleaming, sharp, long white teeth. A low growl reverberated throughout his body.

Hiccup, strangely enough, seemed unfazed by this. He chuckled darkly.

"Nice to see you too, Cloudjumper." Without any further delay, both Chief and Alpha sprung from the ground and flew away. Valka had visibly blanched at Cloudjumper's reaction to Hiccup. Dragons only reacted that way when someone was in true danger.

Whilst the others were complaining about how much of an anti-climax that was, Valka and Astrid looked at one another. Hiccup was hiding something from them. And for him to lie, it would have to be something big. They knew that they had to talk to Hiccup. And soon.

**Thanks for reading. Please feel free to review and let me know what you thought. **


	2. Truthful Deception

Hiccup sighed as he fell back onto his bed. With the help of Toothless, he had managed to catch up on all his chiefly duties by mid-afternoon. He had been so busy that he hadn't even given himself a chance to rest so by the time that he made it back to his house, he was close to collapsing.

Toothless had supported Hiccup when his strength had finally left him. As he lay on his bed, he felt the world spinning beneath him, despite the fact that he had both of his feet on the ground, so to speak. He blinked quickly, trying to rid his vision of the black spots that danced before him. He knew he was being stubborn by not asking for help or even telling someone. But he couldn't risk them getting hurt too. He now knew what Drago was capable of. Hiccup had to find him, and soon.

He pushed himself up, thinking of how he would tell Berk that he was going to be leaving for a while when another round of pain wracked his body. His chest felt like it was burning from within and he found it increasingly hard to breathe. It felt like his lungs were filling with molten lead and he doubled over, falling to his knees, coughs erupting from him. What began as dry coughs began to turn wet and more violent. He brought the back of his hand to his mouth, wishing the pain away. He was aware of a great roaring in his head, coupling with a tremendous pounding. He felt tears streaming from his eyes and then began to wish that unconsciousness would take him like it had before.

But he had no such luck. It was a long while before his body calmed down and his breathing turned from hacking coughs to ragged breaths. Hiccup hadn't realised that he had taken a foetal position until he uncurled his limbs. His head was still pounding but the roaring had gone. He looked to his hand and saw it was coated in blood. The sticky liquid dripped down as he stared at it. There was so much of it.

A cooing alerted Hiccup to the worried dragon beside him. Toothless, seeing that his friend was no longer in great pain scooted a little closer. He had never seen his rider look like this. And it was something that he would never forget. Hiccup looked to his dragon and smiled weakly.

"I'm alright bud." Toothless growled, obviously aware of the fact that Hiccup was anything but alright.

Hiccup groaned as he stood, still feeling like someone had dropped a bunch of Gronkles on him. There was a pail of water in the corner of his room that he could wash the blood from his hands on. What stopped him, though, was his reflection. He waited for the water to still before looking properly at his face. What he thought were tears had been more blood, streaming down his face. It struck him then and there just how sick he was. And not just how sick he was, but how quickly his time was running out. This had all happened within the space of a day. He had to abandon his plan of protecting his loved ones if he wanted to stay alive, right?

The door to his house banged open and more than one set of boots could be heard running in. hiccup quickly shoved his hands into the water, rubbing the blood away. He then cupped his hands and brought the now pink water to his face, hoping to wash away the drying tracks of blood.

The footsteps were now rushing up the stairs and Hiccup could mutely hear people calling his name. He grabbed a cloth and dried his face and hands just as his mother, Astrid and Gobber crested the top of the stairs. He stared at them, confused. They were all breathing hard as if they had just run a long way to get there.

"Hiccup. Are you alright?" his mother's voice sounded distant and muffled. He frowned, unable to understand why he couldn't quite hear her. He raised a hand to his ear and felt a warm substance coming from his ears. He didn't need to look to know that it would be blood. "Hiccup what's happened? We heard Toothless roaring." Valka took a few steps towards her son. The fact that he hadn't said anything was worrying her. And he was so pale it looked like all life had been sucked from him. Her maternal instinct knew that there was something wrong with her son. Something big and something bad. Whatever it was she had to find out and help him.

Hiccup frowned as his mother's words belatedly sunk in. Toothless had been roaring? Maybe that's what he had been vaguely aware of. Toothless must have been calling for help. It was never a good thing when one's dragon was aware of how sick you were.

Hiccup looked at the three worried faces in the room. He cleared his throat, feeling the now familiar coppery taste of blood still in his mouth.

"I'm fine. Toothless was just-"

"If you're so fine, lad, why is there blood on the floor." Gobber interrupted. The brunette chief mentally cursed himself for not having noticed that before.

Hiccup opened his mouth to respond, but Astrid beat him to it. "Don't you dare lie to us Hiccup. If you even think about it I swear not even Odin himself would be able to help you."

Unfortunately Hiccup knew the truth behind Astrid's words. She had always seemed harsh to an outsider, but Hiccup knew that she wasn't comfortable being affection around other people, so usually, the worse the threat, the more worried she was. And now, he could see the worry clouding her normally clear blue eyes.

Resigned, he sighed and moved to sit on his bed. He brought the cloth that he still held and wiped the blood away from his ears. He heard the gasp from his mother at seeing the blood.

"I didn't want to worry anyone." He mumbled, looking down. He felt the bed dip beside and saw Astrid's familiar hands take his.

"Hiccup," she said softly, "whatever it is, we can help you."

This was precisely why he didn't want to tell them. He couldn't give them the hope that everything would turn out alright in the end. For all he knew he could be dead in a month, a week, a day, even an hour.

"No," he said coldly. "You can't."

Valka knelt before her son, seeing the despair deep within his eyes. He was trying to hide it but she could tell. She was his mother. She knew these things. Her son had taken after her. He always wore his heart on his sleeve. He had never had his father's ability of being so stoic.

"Hiccup. If we can't help you, like you say, at least tell us what ails you."

Faced with no choice now, Hiccup sighed before standing. He took a few steps until his back was to the other three before lifting his tunic above his head. The others were surprised by this. What was Hiccup doing? Astrid blushed, not at seeing Hiccup topless; she'd seen all that before, but because she was sitting directly next to Hiccup's mother who was fiercely protective of her only son, even more so after what had happened to Stoick.

"The good Bewilderbeast was a being dedicated to life. Its sole purpose as Alpha was to preserve life. But Drago's Bewilderbeast was tasked only to kill. Two separate entities whose paths should never have crossed." Hiccup sighed. Describing what truly happened was a lot harder than he originally thought. "When Drago ordered his Bewilderbeast to kill me, Toothless jumped in and saved my life-" Hiccup paused, thinking of how those words, whilst being true, now had a falser meaning to them. "But all it took was a single shard…" steeling himself for their reactions, he turned, finally facing the people he had tried so hard to protect.

Valka cried out in horror and Astrid gasped, tears springing to her eyes. Gobber made no indication of having seen anything, his shock freezing him. The three could see the cut that was killing Hiccup. From the wound spread a web of blackened veins and mottled purple and yellow flesh. There was no doubt that there was poison at work here, but none of them had yet to realise quite how fatal it was.

Valka stood shakily and took a step towards her son, her hands hesitantly outsretched but not touching for fear of hurting Hiccup further. Years of self-inflicted solitude had made her hard and able to cope with most situations with a level head. But now, seeing the son that she was just beginning to know, hurt and sick, her resolve was crumbling.

"Hiccup? I- I don't understand what you're telling us." She said quietly, fearing the answer that she would get.

"The Bewilderbeast you knew, well, its powers could preserve life. Drago's Bewilderbeast's powers cause _death_." He choked on the last word. He knew that he was dying. He knew he needed help.

Astrid stood and stumbled over to Hiccup, afraid to touch him in much the same way as Valka. She understood what Hiccup was saying, but every fibre of her refused to accept it.

"But you're going to get better, right?"

Hiccup stepped from his mother's embrace. He looked everyone squarely in the eye before answering.

"The effect of the Bewilderbeast is having a reaction that not even I could have foreseen. In the past two days…" He sighed, not wanting to tell them quite how sick he had been getting. "I don't know how much time I have left." The way that Astrid and Valka recoiled, one would think that Hiccup had just struck them. He could see the effect that this was having on the ones who he cared most for. He had to find Drago. "Tomorrow I leave to find Drago." As expected, everyone began to speak at once, the sudden change in noise levels causing the room to jolt dangerously to the side, sending Hiccup stumbling back. His back smashed against one of the wooden beams in his room, sparking yet another coughing fit as he fell to all fours.

Fortunately, this one was less severe than the previous one. Hiccup fumbled around for the piece of cloth that he had been holding and, once found, he placed it before his mouth, hiding the blood. The others were frozen in place. Never had they thought that they would see the great and strong Hiccup in such a weak state. Not only that, but the full scale of Hiccup's words and condition crashed down on them. Hiccup was dying.

The coughing subsided and the brunette chief pushed himself up so that he was sitting, leaning against the beam. He wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth and looked to the others.

"I know the risks. I know Drago cannot be reasoned with. But I can't afford to not go." He croaked, throat aching from the coughing.

"Hiccup you can't do this alone." Astrid said, crouching before the boy who had stolen her heart. She had never thought that it was possible to feel such pain at seeing someone you loved slowly dying. But now, with every body-wracking cough, it felt like someone was slicing at her heart.

Surprisingly, Hiccup half-smiled when she said that. They could see in his eyes the great relief that he wouldn't have to do this alone.

"Thank you. But if we are to leave at first light, then we should probably get some rest." Nobody argued, thankful instead that Hiccup had agreed and accepted their help.

Valka and Astrid both helped Hiccup stand and move to his bed where he was asleep the second his head hit the pillow. Quietly the three left, all feeling the weight of grief rest heavily upon their hearts. Not one of them would ever give up on Hiccup. They knew that he would do the same if it were them who were hurt.

…

Moonlight streamed through the "dragon-flap" in Hiccup's room. He quietly placed supplies in a bag and donned his flying gear. Telling the others had been horrible. Worse than he had imagined actually. So he had decided the second that he had seen their reactions that they weren't going to go with him. He had lost so much to Drago already and he couldn't risk losing them too. And plus, he wasn't exactly planning to _talk_ with Drago. He didn't want the others to see the dark and threatening side of him.

As he and Toothless made their way out, he looked back to his room. He could see the letter he had left the others on his pillow, explaining why he had gone without them. Should he survive this, he knew he would have to make it up to them. _Should he survive this_. With one last wistful glance at the room that he had grown up so much in, he mounted his dragon and noiselessly left the island that he called home.

But not even the Fates could tell if it would be for the last time.

**Thank you for reading and don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of it.**

**-WarriorOfTheLight**


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